Whew! Boy did April go out with a bang. Tornadoes and destruction everywhere. We were missed by a few hundred yards. Special thanks up front to Glyn Wright for use of his generator. His generator saved two freezers of rats and stuff while we were with out power Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I was content to eat canned stuff, it was especially good knowing that all the rats and other raptor foodstuffs were okay. Can't replace that from Kroger!Wednesday morning I got a call from Stewart Farron of Action Critter Removal.There was a Redtail Hawk nest at the Atlanta Airport and the parents were getting to close to incoming commercial aircraft. An Abatement Permit was issued to the Airport for the removal of the nest. In the nest were 2 brown speckled eggs that had to be accounted for. Stewart had to climb the tree and retrieve them. Wednesday was very windy, gusts in excess of 25 miles per hour.Stewart put his fear in his back pocket( Stewart I know I am lyin' but it sounds better than the conversation we had about climbing in the wind) and went up the tree returning with both eggs. Both eggs were intact inspite of the conditions.

Here they are. Two Redtail Hawk eggs. Their saga continued after Stewart got them to me. Wednesday we lost power because of the Tornadoes, no incubator. After consultation with Mr.Hans Klaasen we opted for plan B. It worked well on Thursday. Friday Mr. Jim Davidson placed the eggs in one of his brooder units. Sunday guess what showed up? (No it wasn't Stewart looking for another tree to climb) It was a bouncing baby Redtail hawk. It is already eating very well, remember Glyn's generator saved the meat, and lunging at the food.Pictures will be forth coming, you can bet on it. Since Redtails lay their eggs a couple days apart the second one should be hatching soon.A quick note, Stewart Farron is one of the best wildlife removal specialist in Georgia, a little nuts too. He takes a very deliberate humane approach to wildlife problems and brings them to a successful resolution. Good job Stewart!Glyn, Hans,and Jim thanks for all your input and efforts.Unlike the Mother's Day tornadoes that ripped the Macon area a couple years ago( we got 40 raptors in intake) we have only received one raptor following these storms. Saturday evening the Georgia State Patrol brought us a mature male Redtail with a broken wing. The prognosis is good.Okay emailers the Osprey does not have a name. Remember him in the last blog?The wrap is off his wing. He is flapping both wings evenly yet is uninterested in trying to fly. What shall we name him? email me your ideas.The second osprey succumbed to the infections in his wings. Laurens Wildlife Rescue started antibiotics under Veterinarian directions immediately upon receiving him. The therapy was continued when he arrived here. It was all for naught as he died in his sleep.Mikey is doing........well Mikey is Mikey. He is being a precocious juvenile Great Horned Owl. He is flying with very good precision., he doesn't knock the others off the perch when he lands. He is progessing very well for his return to the wild.Permit changes- Our permits have have been amended to add reptiles. After all the Gopher tortoises last year I requesed the addition to keep us legal. Keep your Boas and Burmese pythons they are not indiginous.Speaking of reptiles I need to answer a confusement. When you find an Eastern Box turtle crossing the road and you opt to stop and help please place her, yes her, on the side of the road in the direction she is going. Smarter folks than me say it is usually a female and she is enroute to lay her eggs. Why they have to cross a road or highway I don't know.Email answers- Okay Mary Kate here you go. I have done a lot of research on the questions you, Trey W. and Ashley asked. I think they are all related so I going to try to answer them in one answer. For the reader we were in the portion of Land of the Hawk program that deals with birds of prey in differentcultures. We talked about the Romans, the Native Americans, and then the Bible. Since all three of these youngun's are in private Christian Schools asked them to review their Bibles and see how many references they could find about birds of prey. Boy did they surprise me! Most adults don't find this.In the book Deuteronomy( one of the first 5 books in the Bible known collectively as the Torah) Chapter 14 verses 12-19 God defines clean and unclean creatures. Eat the clean and don't eat the unclean, simple concept. If God said they are unclean are they nasty to touch and handle? There are great Bible scholars who can give very detailed explanations to this passage and it's meaning, I am not one of them. Since you 3 responded to my challenge I feel I must answer. So I have been researching and asking questions and going to give my answer now.The words clean and unclean can replaced okay and not okay, as in okay to eat and not okay to eat.This passage specifically identifies Ospreys, owls, and other raptors. If God created all life and put things in to motion does it make sense that He knows what needs to be left alone so they can do their job? Each of the birds He called unclean are also top predators in their world. If you ate them, Kentucky Fried Osprey or Popeye's Screech Owl Nuggets, who would take over their job in the wild? You would have mice up the wahzoo.We might have to give Mary Kate a baseball bat and let her chase the mice, on second thought I have seen Mary Kate with a baseball bat.Guys does that make sense? Ask your teachers about this explanation. It took me a while but I got your answer. Trey you didn't mention what school you attended . I remember Ashley at her school in Griffin. Okay kids that's my best explanation.If anyone has friends who are vendors at a Flea Market or run shops in tourist areas please pass this on to them. We get a lot of stuff donated that would do real well in either setting, and I would entertain the idea of selling the whole lot to such a vendor. Please pass this on and have them email me.No clothes though. I gave 5 boxes of clothes to a family who was decimated by the tornadoes. Thanks for your time.Steve